LGBT+ community comes out for a People’s Vote – YouGov poll

October 04, 2018 6:00 AM

An overwhelming majority of LGBT+ people want a People’s Vote on Brexit – and would vote to remain in the EU, according to a new poll by YouGov, which coincides with the launch this weekend of a new campaign group LGBT+ for a People’s Vote.

The exclusive YouGov poll of almost 1,500 lesbian, gay and bisexual people commissioned by People’s Vote found that 72 per cent of people in the LGBT+ community support a public vote on Brexit – with just 28 per cent opposed (excluding Don’t Knows). An overwhelming 70 per cent of LGBT+ people in this country would vote to remain in the UK in a new referendum – up from the 60 per cent of LGBT+ people who voted remain at the referendum in 2016 (excluding those who did not vote and don’t know).

The poll also finds:

77 per cent of the LGBT+ community think Brexit will fundamentally impact their lives.

78 per cent of the LGBT+ community think promises made by Brexit-supporting politicians will be broken.

84 per cent of the LGBT+ community agree that the process so far of leaving the EU has been a mess.

Meanwhile, just 13 per cent of the LGBT+ community expect Britain to get a good deal with the EU.

The findings are published alongside a letter to the Prime Minister signed by 164 LGBT+ activists – including the broadcaster, journalist and trans advocate Paris Lees, the actor and Stonewall Founding Chair Lord Cashman and YouTube vlogger Jake Edwards - demanding a People’s Vote on the outcome of Brexit negotiations.

LGBT+ for a People’s Vote will be launched this Saturday evening with Party for a People’s Vote - nine events taking place in prominent LGBT+ venues across 4 cities in the UK, with the flagship event being hosted at G-A-Y London.

The launch will highlight the instrumental role the European Union has had in promoting LGBT+ rights in the UK, ensuring equal treatment in the workplace, recognising that trans discrimination is gender discrimination and protecting pensions.

LGBT+ for a People’s Vote has charted a rise in hate crimes and extremist politics – including homophobia, biphobia and, particularly, transphobia – since the 2016 referendum. This may be an unintended consequence of Brexit. Nevertheless, it is, in part at least, a consequence of it. Leaving the EU will also disrupt access to HIV medications, PrEP and the latest medical advances.

Peter Tatchell, Director, Peter Tatchell Foundation, said:

“Brexit will fracture our successful collaboration with LGBT+ groups and governments across the EU, which has done so much to advance equality for our communities throughout the continent.

“The UK needs to remain in the EU to secure and safeguard the full protections guaranteed to sexual and gender minorities under the EU Charter of fundamental rights and freedoms.

“I urge LGBTs to support the campaign for a People’s Vote and to march in the LGBT+ bloc in the London mass demonstration on 20 October.”

Helen Belcher, Chair of LGBT Consortium, said:

"Trans people won two key rights - the right not to be discriminated against at work and the right of gender recognition - from the Court of Justice of the European Union. The human rights consequences as well as the economic and reputational consequences of leaving the EU are why I’m campaigning for a People’s Vote once we know the terms of any deal.”

Tris Reid-Smith, Editor-in-Chief, Gay Star News, said:

"Brexit is dangerous for the LGBTI community. It would do more than just harm LGBTI rights of course. If we actually leave the EU – ‘Chequers’ deal, bad deal or no deal – people will lose their jobs, the NHS will suffer and we may face shortages of everything from HIV medication to food.

"Nobody in the UK voted for this mess. Nobody voted for Chequers. No LGBTI person voted to allow the government to remove important protections on our rights.

"The loudest Brexiteers have the worst voting records on LGBTI issues. The referendum has handed political power to homophobes, biphobes and transphobes. I am scared what they will do next if they triumph in pushing us to a hard Brexit.

"But we can avert disaster. A People’s Vote provides a democratic way for UK citizens to say what they want the final outcome to be – including remaining in the EU."

/Ends.

Notes to editors:

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 18,772 adults – including 1,433 lesbian, gay and bisexual voters. Fieldwork was undertaken between 31st July - 20th August 2018. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). The full fieldwork can be found here: https://bit.ly/2OxswdL

The full text of the letter signed by 164 activists is below:

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing as a broad group of people from the UK LGBT+ community to call for a People’s Vote on the final outcome of the Brexit negotiations.

Naturally, no one person, or group, can represent all the nuanced opinions of an entire community as diverse and widespread as ours. We do not pretend to.

However, we obviously have detailed ongoing conversations with the community we serve. Through this we have identified a clear unease among many with the proposals for leaving the EU – including your own Chequers proposals, and others’ ideas for a ‘hard’, ‘no-deal’ or ‘blind’ Brexit.

Independent polling endorses this qualitative evidence. YouGov research shows 60% of our community voted to remain in 2016, and 70% wish to remain in the EU today. What is more, 72% of LGBT+ people want a People’s Vote.

Earlier this year the publication of an LGBT+ Brexit Impact Assessment, authored by leading human rights lawyers, indicated a number of areas in which our community will be gravely affected by the current Brexit proposals. You have engineered Brexit to remove the constitutional protections on LGBT+ rights that the EU currently offers, without replacing those guarantees. That makes it far easier for anti-LGBT+ politicians to chip away or remove our rights in future, even if your current government does not intend to. And it is the stated aim of leading Brexiteers to do so.

By contrast, the European Union has been instrumental in promoting LGBT+ rights. This has included ensuring our equal treatment in the workplace, recognising that trans discrimination is gender discrimination and protecting our pensions.

We have charted a rise in hate crimes and extremist politics – including homophobia, biphobia and, particularly, transphobia – since the 2016 referendum. This may be an unintended consequence of Brexit. Nevertheless, it is, in part at least, a consequence of it.

Many of those who are loudest in their promotion of Brexit are not friends of the LGBT+ community. They have a history of voting against our rights. This only adds to the deep unease many LGBT+ people have about the future of our country, should we continue down our current path.

These fears continue to grow as further Brexit-related issues become clear. We now know leaving the EU will disrupt our access to HIV medications, PrEP and the latest medical advances.

This is, of course, only one subset of the complex set of issues the UK faces as it charts its future. Certainly, the evidence suggests that our community is at least as concerned about the impact on the NHS, our economy and our future place in the world as it is about LGBT+ specific issues. The People’s Vote campaign has already outlined those issues to you – and, indeed, expressed why a vote on the outcome of your negotiations with the EU is in the interests of the UK and of democracy.

However, we believe there is an onus on the government to pay special attention to the needs of vulnerable and minority communities in all cases, and in particular when making long-term constitutional change.

We hope, therefore, that you will decide to offer the UK a People’s Vote, now all the facts are known. We believe such a vote is in the clear interests of our country and our community.

LGBT+ for a People’s Vote will be launched formally on Saturday night with Party for a People’s Vote – a series of nine events taking place across four cities in the UK, with the flagship event being hosted at G-A-Y London.

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